The present invention relates generally to pegboard and, more specifically, to a pegboard molded out of plastic.
Wooden pegboard is a popular and well known product generally consisting of a thin particle board sheet with small holes defined therethrough at regular intervals. A piece of pegboard may be supported on a vertical surface. There are a large variety of connectors which are designed to engage the holes in the pegboard and to provide hooks or brackets for attaching other devices. For example, simple hooks are available that have a first end that goes through one of the holes in the wood pegboard with the other end extending downwardly along the pegboard and then curving out away from the pegboard. The hook may also have an additional peg on the back that engages a second hole in order to stabilize the hook. Any of a variety of objects may be hung on the hook. Because the pegboard has a plurality of holes at regular intervals, the hook may be placed in any of a multitude of positions, making for easy organization.
Despite its utility and popularity, wood pegboard has multiple drawbacks. Most wood pegboard is made from a high density particle board material because the cost of this material is lower than higher quality sheets of wood or plywood. This particle board material is not very durable or strong, thereby reducing its utility. For example, portions of the pegboard will break away if subjected to an impact. Also, the holes in the pegboard tend to widen as they are used causing the connectors used therewith to fit poorly. Also, if a heavy load is placed on a connector used with a pegboard, there is a substantial risk that the pegboard will fail and drop whatever is hung from the connector. The surface of the pegboard is also difficult to clean because it is rough. Painting the surface helps somewhat but is inconvenient and adds cost.
Traditional wood pegboard is also susceptible to water damage. It tends to absorb water and then collapse, making it unsuited for humid environments and any areas where it may encounter water. Obviously, some of the shortcomings of the pegboard could be overcome by making the pegboard out of a higher grade of particle board or out of plywood or sheets of wood. However, this would significantly increase the cost of the pegboard making it non-competitive.
Pegboard may be made out of other materials to address some of the shortcomings of the wood pegboard. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,551,539; 3,322,287; 3,452,959; 4,944,416; 5,673,803; and 5,927,517 all disclose pegboard or merchandise display boards which may be made out of various types of plastics. Plastic has several advantages over wood. It tolerates water without degradation, does not easily splinter or crack, and does not require paint to give it a pleasing appearance. However, plastic presents numerous challenges if it is to be used as a pegboard material. First, it is necessary to minimize the amount of plastic used in pegboard in order to make it price competitive with wood pegboard. Traditional wood pegboard is very inexpensive. The cost of plastic pegboard depends on several things, though the primary consideration is the amount of plastic required to make the pegboard. Therefore, reduction in the total amount of material required also reduces the cost of the resulting product.
Generally, if plastic pegboard is designed in the same way as wooden pegboard, it cannot be price competitive. Traditional wood pegboard has a generally uniform thickness, and the apertures defined through the wood pegboard have a constant cross section. If plastic pegboard is made with a constant thickness, it generally must be made rather thick to be sufficiently stiff and strong. This requires a large amount of plastic material, leading to a costly product. Such a thick plastic pegboard also would be very heavy, making handling and mounting difficult. If the plastic pegboard is made thinner to reduce its cost and weight, the performance of the pegboard may be affected. U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,539 to Horton discloses a uniform thickness display board which may be made out of a plastic material. The uniform thickness of the board causes it to either be costly and heavy, or too thin and flexible for optimal performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,287 to Ragir attempts to overcome some of the problems associated with a plastic display board such as shown in the Horton patent. The Ragir design is designed to allow thin flexible sheets to be mounted flush with a mounting surface. The area of the panels immediately surrounding each aperture is raised so as to allow the back side of a hook to reside behind the raised portion. These locally raised areas may be stiffened by stiffening ribs. The Ragir design may have benefits for certain applications, but, unlike traditional pegboard, it is not self-supporting and therefore cannot be used for many applications. Also, the Ragir design is complexly shaped making it difficult to mold.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,959 to Ishikawa discloses a plastic pegboard wherein individual panels are provided that are designed to be interconnected to form larger panels. The Ishikawa pegboard has areas of increased thickness where the apertures are defined in order to increase the strength of the apertures. While this may allow the use of less plastic material without limiting the strength of the apertures, it does nothing to address the stiffness of the overall panel. This necessarily limits the total size of the individual panels. In the illustrated embodiments Ishikawa shows small panels that are interconnected. However, if the panels were made larger, the face of the panels would become flexible making them unsuitable for many applications. U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,416 to Petersen et al. discloses a display panel with elongated horizontal slots defined in its face. The panel has an expanded plastic foam core with a laminate on its face. This combination may provide some weight advantages by the combination of a stronger laminate with a foam core. However, the cost and complexity of such a system is undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,803 to Burback discloses a plastic pegboard system with shortcomings similar to the Horton design. Specifically, the pegboard has a uniform thickness leading to the undesirable tradeoff between high weight and cost or insufficient strength and thickness. The Burback design may partially overcome the strength limitations by the use of specifically designed hooks and pegs. However, this eliminates one of the primary advantages of traditional pegboard. That is, traditional pegboard works with a large variety of hooks and. pegs that are interchangeable and readily available.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,517 to Lipman et al. also discloses a plastic pegboard system. The primary point of the Lipman invention is stability enhancing collars on the rear of the pegboard. This allows the use of elongated hooks without additional stability enhancers. The Lipman invention once again fails to address the need for reduction in the amount of plastics required for acceptable strength and weight.
In light of the above, there is a need for a pegboard made out of improved material that has improved performance characteristics.
The present invention overcomes many of the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a plastic pegboard with sufficient stiffness and strength while minimizing the use of plastic material. The plastic pegboard includes a generally flat sheet of plastic with multiple holes defined therethrough at regular intervals. The sheet has a generally smooth front face and an opposed rear face. The rear face includes a ring projecting about each of the multiple holes, as well as multiple ribs extending between at least some of the holes.